Michelin to close Dundee plant with 845 job losses

Tyremaker Michelin plans to close its factory in Dundee, which employs 845 workers, by the middle of 2020 after blaming competition from cheap products from Asia.

Derek Mackay, Scotland’s economy secretary described it as “devastating news” not just for those who work at the Michelin plant, but their families and the whole of the city of Dundee.

The Unite trade union said closure would be a “betrayal of the workforce” and pledged to fight “tooth and nail” to keep the plant open. Unite Scottish Secretary Pat Rafferty added the plant closure would be a “hammer-blow” for Dundee.

“Despite the group’s continuous efforts, and the factory employees’ dedication to making the site economically sustainable through the implementation of several action plans – €70m has been invested in recent years to modernise the site – the accelerated market transformation has made the plant unsuitable and its conversion is not financially viable,” Michelin said in a statement on its website.

The move casts a pall over recent signs of a revival in the eastern Scottish city.